Progression
William Huppert (PATRIK / PATRIK Sails / PATRIK Foils) enjoyed his strongest performance to date on the 2025 PWA World Tour with the Frenchman recording three top ten results in Guadeloupe, Germany and Japan to earn his place in the overall Foil top five. Huppert previously finished 2021 ranked third, but then there was only one counting event, while he has steadily progressed up the rankings since then - finishing 14th in 2022, followed by 12th in both 2023 and ’24. After his best season to date we caught up with William for a full interview, which you can read below:
Hey William, congrats on a great season, which is arguably your best performance to date on the World Tour. In 2021 you finished third overall, but then there was only one event and it was a mix of both Fin and Foil… whereas last year you earned a top ten finish at all three events to finish fifth overall - how happy were you with your performance last season?
“Hi! I’m obviously super happy with the outcome. As you said, I finished 3rd in 2021 and we only had one event in Israel. I’m happy to confirm that I’m a top contender, especially this season with three events and no event discard, so there really wasn’t much room for mistakes. We still had three great events with pretty much all kinds of wind conditions, so it shows my versatility and confirms that the training is paying off."
If we go back a little bit, in 2024 you had to race without any sponsors and still managed to finish 12th overall - can you tell us a little bit how you coped with that situation both mentally and financially?
"2024 was not that easy, yes. I have nothing to complain about, but I approached the season differently. I was racing with my 2023 gear, so I really had to take care of it. I’m usually someone who sails a lot all year long. This time I had to save the gear, not use it too much, but still keep training. I had no spare in case of breakage or a crash, and I even ended up borrowing some masts to finish the last event.
On the financial side, I had to run the season on a very limited budget, with only a few extra windsurf industry sponsors, just enough to make it to the most important events. But in a way, it was a good experience. It helped me put things into perspective, stay more motivated than ever, remember that nothing is guaranteed, and enjoy even more my place among the best windsurfers in the world. Since then, I feel like I’ve never enjoyed windsurfing this much.”
Last season you joined the PATRIK Team, how did that move come about and how much of a benefit do you think it was to you to go from being without sponsors to then being part of team very much on the ascendance in the sport…
"Yes, in 2024 I was already pushing to join the Patrik Team, but it was too late and there was no room for me. I really wanted to join that team because I already felt, beyond their strong momentum and the very good gear they were making, that the overall spirit and team atmosphere were really motivating. I already knew Patrik [Diethelm] a bit, as well as his staff, and they are very human, connected people. They are understanding, they push you to be your best, but in a very human way.
Looking at the whole picture, I had the feeling this was exactly the kind of environment I needed to feel good and fully express myself. So I told myself, OK, racing is one thing, but I’m going to show them my value and how motivated I really am. To give myself the best chance, in July 2024, after months of work, I started the PATRIK Pro Shop Bretagne together with Alexandre Cousin.
Then in 2025, the door finally opened for me to join the team. Still at an entry level, with one clear mission: show them that they made the right decision. From the very first jump on the gear, I felt it straightaway -, this is going to be a good one. The style of the gear was fitting my sailing 100%.
So I trained hard to know the gear at 110%, every detail, every condition. At that point, I could fully focus on myself without even thinking about the equipment. The engine was running by itself, and I just had to drive it."
Are you also involved in the equipment development side with PATRIK? If so, what is it about the development side of things that you enjoy?
“I was a little bit involved in the R&D in 2025, but I didn’t want to come in too quickly, and I had full confidence in the team working on it. Alex is one of my best friends, I know exactly how he feels on the water and how good he is at testing and developing gear. So I mainly helped him with speed testing and as a sparring partner.
At the end of the season, I got an amazing reward from PATRIK, being invited to Australia after the last event in Japan to finish and conclude the latest racing sail development. That was the best reward I could get, and I enjoyed it so much. For 2026, I will be much more involved in the R&D, which makes me super happy.”
In Brittany you also have your own shop, right? How do you find balancing running your own shop and training to compete on the World Tour? Are you always just training at home and do you have any training partners?
“Yes, as mentioned, I run together with Alex the PATRIK Pro Shop Bretagne. It’s an online shop, but we differentiate ourselves with our unmatched knowledge of the gear and the sport in general that we are so passionate about, and that we run at a professional level for many years.
I am super reactive and available for customer requests, and I can advise them on the exact gear they need because I know the gear better than anybody, and I have so much on-the-water experience that I can easily feel the type of profile of the customer.
Then I give as much value as possible to them, tips, coaching support, tuning guides. My goal is to provide them with a complete customer experience, from saving time to trim and set up their gear from the first sessions, to keep progressing forever.
Besides, I try to be as active as possible on the beach with advice, demos, etc. I am there anyway, so I just take time to share with the community.
On land, that’s a full-time job, but a very good match with the pro windsurfing career, both on land and on the water.
I am mainly training at home, but still moving a lot across Brittany, and several times a year to the south of France, where we have very good training camps.”
You’ve been very foil focused for the last five years, but next season you are planning to compete on the fin again - what made now the right time for that? And despite not competing on the fin recently - have you still been sailing a lot on the fin?
“Yes, that’s going to be a challenge. I haven’t sailed on fin for five years. When I was in Australia with Patrik, we sailed and tested a lot of slalom fin gear. The first sessions, I had to adapt myself a bit, but I always try to be a complete windsurfer, and I’ve done slalom for so long that it came back relatively quickly. Five years ago, it was also with another brand, so on top of that I had to adapt to new feelings, but I enjoyed it so much.
After two weeks, Patrik asked me: “Would like you to go back racing on fin? Do you want to?”. Even though I didn’t feel 100% competitive, I didn’t even hesitate. I just love windsurfing no matter the discipline, so it was a no brainer.
As I said, to be the best in windsurfing, I’ve always believed you have to be very polyvalent. Slalom, wave, foil, fin, flat water or heavy seas, you need to be complete, and when you love that, it’s not even an issue. Just look at Antoine Albeau.”
As someone who has been so focused on foil then also switching to the fin - what are the main differences you feel between the two different disciplines and which do you enjoy the most?
“The sailing position is pretty different. On the foil, you are only pushing on the front foot, and on slalom it’s the opposite. The gybing is also the most difficult part to adapt. On the foil, it is completely effortless with no speed lost, so you just focus on your trajectory. With the fin, if you hit the chop badly, then you immediately stop. The good thing is that the racing part is the same, so I just have to readapt my sailing.
Honestly, I enjoy both. Even though the last years I enjoyed a lot developing the foil gear and pushing the limits, every year we were faster, could hold on in harder conditions, and kept evolving constantly. While in slalom fin, the evolution every year is very, very small.”
After your best season yet - what are your goals for 2026?
“My goal for 2026 is to keep spending as much time on the water, and even more. Enjoy my comeback on fin, and a top 10 result would be awesome. On the foil, I will keep training to secure my top five and my Speed Foil world title. All around, I want to share even more with the windsurfing community, and my last goal is to transmit as much energy as I can so that people are crazy about windsurfing and don’t go into winging :). Haha, (joke).”
When you aren’t training / racing are you wave sailing or freesailing?
“Yes, as I said before, I am completely mad about windsurfing, so in the wintertime I don’t miss any wave sessions, surfing, and even a few times a year winging :).”
Away from the water what are your other passions / hobbies?
“I have to be honest, outside of watersports I don’t have many hobbies. I just try to spend and give the little time I have outside the water to my family, enjoy nature, and develop myself to be a better adult and learn something every day.”
Thanks, William. Have a great winter and good luck for the coming season.